
MJ)-5y^lES 




IN SILHOUETTL 




LLIZ4BETH ELLIS SC4NTLEBURY 

A.FLANAGAN COMPANY CHICAGO 




Class Lh ilgl 
Book £^5: 

Gopyiight]^" 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




A LONG-AGO HOME 



(See page 13) 



HOMES 



OF THE 



WORLD'S BABIES 



ILLUSTRATED WITH PAPER CUTTINGS 
IN SILHOUETTE 



BY 

ELIZABETH ELLIS SCANTLEBURY 



A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 
CHICAGO 






Copyright 1910 

BY 

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 



(gCI.A265?06 



^ 



<y\\ ( 



PREFACE 



"Begin where you find the pupil," is a precept the 
soundness of which has been proved. As a writer 
in the New York Teachers' Alonograph cunt'ends, 
in geography teaching "tiie only vital mode ol' 
approach is through the life of the child's surround- 
ings." In his early school days the child's only 
interest in different countries is in the home life, 
manners, dress, of the little children who live in 
those countries, in contrast with his own home lifi- 
and surroundings. But, in learning of these, he 
also acfjuires some knowledge of the great science 
of life and living; of how the fundamental wants 
common to all — food, shelter, clothing — are supplied 
under different conditions ; of the influence of cli- 
mate upon dress; of adaptation to environment, and 
of the brotherhood of man. 

All these things have been kept in mind in writing 
"Homes of the World's Babies," which with its 
paper cuttings is meant for a help to the busy 
teachers of the lower primary grades, in interesting 
their small pupils in the study of geography. Great 
care has been taken as to accuracy of details. In 
nearly every case a native of the country under con- 
sideration has been consulted, and photographs 
have been used as guides in outlining the cuttings. 



The picture of the old-time kitchen, in Thankful 
and Peregrine's home, has been elaborated more 
tlian any other in the series. The "hanging of the 
crane" in the broad fireplace, the deep brick oven, 
the bellows, the flax-wheel, the cradle, are all things 
of the past, and perhaps belong to history rather 
than to geography. But, although unfamiliar to 
this generation, they were integral parts of the 
homes of the first American settlers, so have been 
inserted as busy work for the children before 
Thanksgiving. Thankful and Peregrine are sup- 
posed to have lived toward the end of the seven- 
teenth century, but the picture will answer for one 
of many homes in America up to the fifties in the 
nineteenth century. 

A composite picture of Indian life has been given 
in the text of "Little Bear's Home." AVhile the 
various Indian nations and tribes differed somewhat 
in characteristics, customs, and mode of living, it 
is only confusing to a little child to liave the dif- 
ferences pointed out. 

Because of the familiarity of children with "Seven 
Little Sisters" some of the names from that book 
have been used, by permission of the publishers, 
Ginn & Company. 



-5— 



DIRECTIONS 



The pictures are made by cutting objects from 
white paper and pasting them on black or dark 
gray. The background is drawn in simple chalk 
lines. Copy the single objects on tracing-paper, 
then from the tracings cut a pattern of each in 
white paper. Hang these where they can be seen 
and let your pupils try free cutting. If the results 
are poor, allow the children to trace around the 
pattern and cut, then try free cutting again. 

Select the best cuttings and group them on the 
blackboard as in the large picture. If you do not 
care to put paste on the blackboard, use sheets of 
lilack cardboard, about ten by fifteen inches in size. 



(Pour pieces of the right size may be cut from one 
large sheet.) Let the children group their cuttings 
on the darkest and heaviest paper that you can sup- 
ply. If they are allowed to color the objects with 
chalk it will add to their interest and delight. 

For many of the objects the paper may be folded 
and both sides cut at once. Spokes of wheels, rungs 
of chairs, etc., maj' be added with chalk. If copying 
is thought too difficult for little fingers, let the chil- 
dren find similar pictures in old magazines, papers, 
and catalogues, and cut them out. 

Use the same cow pattern in the Swiss and Dutch 
pictures. 



—6- 



CONTENTS 



A Loxg-Ago Home i:". 

How our great-great-great-grandparenls lived 
in early days in America. — Their home built of 
logs. — The kitchen with its big fireplace. — Their 
food and clothing. — The school to which they 
went. — "Going to meeting." 

The Home of Little Bear 91 

Indian life before America belonged to the 
white man. — The little papoose in his cradle. — « 
How he got his name. — The dress of the In- 
dians. — The wigwam or tepee. — What Fleet 
Foot taught White Rabbit.— The story-teller 
and his tales. 

Baby Sipsu's Home 20 

Life in Greenland. — -A Jack-Frost house. — 
Annanak's komatik and the dog-team. — The 
father"? kayak. — Sipsu's first sunrise. — Inside 
the igloo. 

Ttie Home of WiLHELMi>fA and Pieter 31 

In the land of windmills. — How Dutch chil- 
dren dress. — The dykes and the canals of 
Holland. — Sights to he seen from an airship. — 
The cottage. — The good times Dutch children 
have. 



Tin: HoMR of the Swiss Baby. 



38 



The mountains and valleys of Switzerland. — • 
The winter cottage and the summer chalet. 
— When the herders start for the mountain 
pastures. — "God's great pictures." — -The "sleepy 
song." 

Little Gemila's Desert Home 4.3 

Plow the Arabs live. — The date-palm. — The 
camels. — The big black tent. — Grinding grain 



and baking bread.- 

girl. 



-The dress of a little Arabian 



TiTE Home of the Chinese Baby 

On the other side of the world. — The Great 
Wall of China. — The Chinese baby's name; his 
dress; his baby-carriage. — The house in which 
he lives. — A wheelbarrow ride. — A Chinese 
school. — The games the children play. 

The Home of the Japanese Baby 

In the little island of Japan. — How Toyo- 
taro got his name. — An airy house. — A Japanese 
meal. — A strange way of sleeping. — How Toyo- 
taro and his sister dress. — The children's pets. 
— Lessons and games. — The flowers of Japan. — 
"The matchless mountain." — Tai)anose festivals. 



40 



.54 



—7- 



LIST OF SILHOUETTES 



A Loxg-Ago Home ( 

The Firei'Lace with Its Andirons and Crane. . 

Some of the Things We See in the Long-Ago 
Home 

The Shovel, the Warming- Pan and the Gun. . . 

The Dresser in the Long-Ago Home 

Two Long-Ago Chairs 

Baby Love's Cradle 

The Spinning- Wheel 

Little Bear's Home (Composite Picture) 

The Wigwam or Tepee 

White Babbit's Canoe 

The "Fireplace" 

The Winter Home of Baby Sirsu (Composite Pic- 
ture) 

Tor, the Leader of TitE Team 

The Igloo 

The Polar Bear 

A Kayak 

The Home of Wiliiei.mixa and Pieteu (Compo.-ite 
Picture) 

A WiNDMILT 

A Dutchwoman 

The Cottage in Which Wiliiei.mixa and Pieter 
Live 



Composite Picture) . .Fronlispicce 

11 Til E Cow 30 

A Stork 37 

l.V Baby IIeike's Mountain Home (Coin])osite Pic- 

Ki ture) :)!) 

17 One of the Goats 10 

l!S One of the Cows 10 

1!) The Chalet on the Mountaix-side 11 

•>J) Little Gemila's Home (Composite ricturc) 41 

2-i One of the Camels. 45 

Ti Gemila's Father 45 

24 The Palms 40 

24 The Big Tent in Which Gemila Lives 47 

The Millstones 4cS 

21 In the Land of the Chixi:se Baby (Composite 

28 Picture) ."ii) 

29 A Camel-back Bridge ."^1 1 

:!() :V Slipper-Boat 52 

oil A Pagoda 52 

A Chinese Junk 53 

In the Land of the Japaxesio I.af.y (Composite 

Picture) 55 

Haxa and Toyotaro 50 

PiDIXG IX A JiNRIKISIIA 57 

35 A Japanese Temple 59 



32 
3.3 
34 



—9— 



HOMES OF THE 

WORLD'S BABIES 



A LONG-AGO HOiME 



Thankful and Pei-cgrine wei-e little twins. Tlic 
house they lived in was built of round logs on 
which the bark had been left. The roof of tlie 
house was thatched with liundles of rushes cut in 
the marsh. 

There was no stove nor furnace, nor any steam 
lieat in Tlianivful and Peregrine's home, nor in the 
homes of any of their neighbors. When the long 
evenings came there were no lamps, no gas nor 
electric light, to read or work by. 

Thankful and Peregrine drank out of "noggins," 
and their baby brother, Love, wore a "biggin" on 
liis head. Love's biggin was a little tight white cap 
witliout trimming, and the noggins out of which the 
twins drank we would call mugs. 

Instead of sitting in high chairs and eating from 
china plates, Thankful and Peregrine stood at the 
table and ate out of trenchers — platters made from 
wood. Sometimes both children ate from the same 
trencher. They had spoons and knives but no fork.s, 
and their table was a board set on trestles. 

Perhaps you think Thankful, Peregrine and Baby 
Love were little foreign children, but they were not. 
They lived in America, in a long-ago time when tlie 
country was new, before stoves were used and before 
gas and electricity were even thought of. For light 



they liad "diiis," made of soft, thick cord dipped 
;n iiot tallow and tiicn cooli;d ; ""candlewood" cut 
from pine trees, and candles, green and sweet- 
scented, made from bay-berries. , 

In the kitchen of their home was a splendid l)ig 
fireplace, with a cliimney so wide that the children 
could look up through it and see the stars sliining 
in the sky. If Santa Clans had ever visited their 
home he might have come down the chimney with- 
out being squeezed at all ; but Santa Clans did not 
visit little American children in those days. 

On one side of the fireplace was a big brick oven, 
built right into the thick wall of the kitchen, lu 
it, once a week, a roaring fire of "oven-wood" was 
made. When the wood was all burned the coals 
were shoveled out, and pies, puddings, bread, and 
Jieans were put in to bake. At Thanksgiving time 
the oven was kept hot and busy for a whole week. 
Can't you almost smell the goodies that came out'. 

America, when little Thankful and Peregrin .• 
lived here, was not much as it is to-day. The first 
white people wiio came found only Indians and tail 
trees; and for a long time after villages and towns 
were built there were no roads between them — only 
bridle-paths through the trees. 

There were no steamships then as there are to-day. 



—13— 




THE FIEEPLACE WITH ITS ANDIEONS AND CKANE 



SOilE Of THE THINGS WJi SEE IX THE LONG-AGO HOME 



Steau), at that time, was to most persons oiily a sign 
that water was boiling; very few people knew that 
it could be made to do work! Between the new 
country of America and the older countries ships 
with great white sails came and went. 

The ships were so slow that people could not 
depend upon them to bring all the supplies they 
needed, even if they had money to pay for them, so 
they had to work very hard for shelter, food, and 
clothing. Tlie men cut down trees and built their 
own liouses. They planted corn, and when it was 
ripened they crushed it into hominy and ground it 
into meal for bread and a porridge which tliey 
called "mush." 

Flaxseed was sown, and from the stem that bore 
the pretty blue flowers, after many changes, linen 
cloth was woven. It was then made up into sheets 
and towels, and sometimes into slm-ts for the men. 



From the sheep 's back, wool was sheared and spun 
into yarn. The yarn was dyed in different colors 
with bark from trees, and juice from flowers. But- 
ternut, hickory, and alder bark made pretty shades 
of brown, and when cloth was woven from the yarn 
it was made up into suits for the fathers and the 
little boys. From yellow-weed, which we call 
goldenrod, a bright yellow came. Of course that 
would not make very pretty dresses for the mothers 
and the little girls, but there were red chips brought 
from other countries that made a beautiful red, "fit 
for the queen." 

Then there were stockings and mittens to be 
knitted. When Thankful was four years old she 
began to learn to knit, and by the time she was six 
she could make a pair of stockings for herself. 

Now let us play that we are visiting the twins. 
"We cannot make a photogrrph of their kitchen, 



-15— 




because this is "once 
upon a time," befoi-e 
pictures were made by 
photography, so we will 
cut the different ob- 
jects in the room and 
m a k e them into one 
large picture. 

First the fireplace, 
w i t h its andirons to 
hold up the wood. From 
the crane that swings 
on the inside wall hang 
long iron hooks, and on 
them are a big iron pot 
and a tea-kettle. "Wlien 
meat is cooked, it is 
hung in front of the 
fire, and Sister Trutli, 
who is a little older 
than the twins, keeps 
turning it so that it will 
cook alike on all sides, 
and not scorch. 

On one side of the 
fireplace is the long- 
handled shovel, and 
next that the warming- 
pan. The warming-pan 
is a round brass box 
with a cover and a long 



handle. When bedtime comes it will be filled with 
hot coals and rubbed up and down between the cold 
sheets. 

The bellows stand beside the fireplace, and with 
them we blow the fire when it burns low. Great 
care has to be taken of the fire, for there are no 
matches — only flint and steel to be struck together 
until they make a spark which will light a piece 
of old linen, called "tinder." 

On the mantelpiece are the brass candlesticks that 
came over from England, and beside the fireplace 
stands grandfather's chair. Little Love sleeps in the 
cradle, and Avhoever is spinning flax on the little 
wheel sits in the Dutch chair. On a larger wheel the 
rolls of wool are spun into yarn. From that yarn 
the .stockings and mittens are knitted. 

The dresser holds rows of pewter plates, and por- 
ringers hang from the upper shelf where the teapot 
stands. The pewter is kept bright by being rubbed 
with scouring rushes which the children gather in 
the marshes. 

You cannot see the door and windows, but in the 
windows instead of glass there is oiled paper, and 
the door is hung on hinges of leather. There is no 
door-knob — only a wooden latch with a string 
fastened to it. 

Over the latch is a small hole through which the 
string is put, so people on the outside can open the 
door. A piece of wood called a "bobbin" is tied to 
the outside end of the string. You remember that 
the wolf said to Red Riding Hood, "Pull the bobbin, 



-16- 




THE DRESSEB IX THE LONG-AGO HOME 




TWO LONG-AGO CHAIRS 



my dear, and the latch will fly up." Tiie door is 
locked by pulling the string and the bobbin in 
through the hole. 

Now we will go with Sister Truth and Brother 
Hate-evil to the "dame school," where they are 
learning to read and write and "cipher," and where 
Truth is also taught to sew. Do these names — Truth 
and Hate-evil — sound funny to you? They were 
given to the children so that their father and their 
mother would remember, whenever they spoke the 
names, things that had happened in their lives which 
they wished never to forget. 

The "dame school" is taught b/ a lady who wears 
a cap and who knits while she hears the children 
recite their lessons. She points with a knitting- 
needle to the letters in — their book? Well, not such 
a book as you read from. Did you notice, on our 
way to school, that little bat that hung by a string 
from Truth 's neck 1 It is of thin wood and is shaped 
just like the bat with which you play tether-ball, but 
is much smaller. On it is pasted paper with the A B 
C's and the Lord's Prayer printed on it, and over 
the paper is fastened a very thin sheet of horn — so 
thin that the words and letters can be seen through 
it. The little bat is Truth's "horn-book," the only 
book she has from which to learn to read. 

The old lady has a book from which she reads to 
the children, hoping it will teach them good manners. 
She is reading now that it is a " wilde and rude thing 
to lean upon one 's elbow. ' ' 

One little girl who does not know lier A B C's 




BABY LOVE S CRADLE 

receives a smart rap on the head from a heavy 
thimble on one of the old lady's fingers; and, on a 
high stool in the coi-ner sits a boy with a tall dunce- 
cap on his head. After the lessons have been recited 
the little girls will do some cross-stitch work on 
their samplers. 

Truth's sampler has a border of strawberries 



—19— 




THE SPIXNIXG-WHEEL 



worked in bright colors. Inside the border is this 

verse : 

When I was young 
And in my prime 
Here you will see 
How I spent my time. 

Now it is Saturday evening and all the work has 
been put away, for at sunset the Sabbath, the day of 
rest, begins. No more work than is necessary will 
be done until to-morrow evening at sunset. When 



bed-time comes we siiall climb into that high bed 
which has tall posts at the four corners and curtains 
around the top. To get into it we shall have to use 
the little steps that stand near. How soft the big 
feather bed is ! 

Morning comes quickly when one has slept all 
night. Every one but grandmother and the baby are 
going to the meeting-house, as the church is called. 
But how are we to get there ? Oh ! here comes a 
liorse with father on its back, and another on which 
rides Ilate-evil. Behind each is a padded cushion 
called a pillion, for mother and the girls to sit on. 
Whoever sits on the pillion puts her arms around 
the Avaist of the rider in front. There are so many 
of us that we shall liave to take turns riding and 
walking. 

The meeting-house is built on a high hill, so that 
it may be seen by travelers going through the woods, 
and by sailors as they come into the harbor. 

Inside the meeting-house the men sit on one side 
of the aisle and the women on the other, while the 
boys have to sit on the stairs which lead up to the 
high pulpit. There is no clock opposite the pulpit, 
but there is an hour-glass beside the preacher. The 
hour-glass is turned two or three times by the tithing- 
man before the sermon is ended. 

What is a "tithing-man"? You watch that man 
creeping quietly up the aisle, looking from one side 
to the other. In his hand is a long stick with a hard 
knob on one end and on the other a squirrel's tail. 
A little girl is nodding sleepily and tlie man tickles 



-'ZO— 



her face with tlie squirrel's tail. Now he is near the 
boys, who have their heads together, whispering. 
One of the boys receives a rap from the knob-end of 
the stick — wliy, it is Hate-evil ! Who would have 
thought it? 



I wish we had time for a longer visit witli the little 
twins, but perhaps one of them became your great- 
great-great-grandmother, or your great-great-great- 
grandfather, and some one has told you all about 
them already. 



THE HOME OF LITTLE BEAR 



Little Bear was a baby. He was not a pink-and- 
wiiite baby. He was a little Indian papoose, and his 
skin was the color of copper. His eyes were like two 
big black beads, and his hair was the color of a 
crow's wing. It was just as shiny, too, because his 
mother kept it will greased. 

Little Bear was a happy little fellow and content 
most of the time with the rattle of playthings that 
were strung on a hoop fastened on his cradle. He 
could not suck liis thumb and he could not kick his 
little feet as white babies do when they are pleased — 
and sometimes when they are not pleased ! Little 
Bear was rolled in a blanket and tied to a board. 
Then an embroidered deerskin, fastened to the board, 
was laced riglit over his arms and legs. That was his 
cradle. 

The Indians named their boys and girls for what- 
ever the little people first noticed and seemed pleased 
with. "When the children grew older the name was 



often changed to one that told of something they had 
done or could do. 

This is the way in which Little Bear got his name: 
One day his father. Fleet Foot, killed a mother bear 
and brought her cub home to Sweet Grass, the baby's 
si.ster. When the baby saw the tiny bear he said, 
"Goo, goo !" His father laughed and said, "We will 
call papoose 'Little Bear.' " You see the baby was 
only four months old, so when he said "Goo, goo!" 
that was ba])y talk for "I see a little bear." 

When Little Bear's mother traveled she put the 
loop that was on the back of the cradle across her 
forehead and carried the baby, cradle and all, on her 
back. When she picked berries she hung the cradle 
on the brancli of a tree. Sometimes two or three 
other mothers would hang their cradles, with the 
babies in them, on the same tree. "What funny fruit 
I have, and how fast it grows!" the tree must have 
thought. 



-21- 




LITTLE BEAR'S HOME 



Wlien Little Bear cried, his 
motlier rul>lied the tips of lier 
fiugers hack and forth on the 
back of the cradle-board and 
sang: 

"Little baby is swimming ilown the 
river, 

Little drift-wood legs, 
Little rabbit-legs. " 

Little Bear's mother and 
Fleet Foot did not count their 
children's ages by months and 
years, but l)y "moons,"' and 
they had no names for the days. 
If they wished to tell of a cer- 
tain time in days, they said so 
many "sleeps," or nights. If 
they spok(! of April, it was the 
"]\ro(m of liright nights"; Jlay 
was the "Jloon of leaves," and 
June the "i\Ioon of strawber- 
ries." 

Little Bear, his sister Sweet 
Grass, and his brotlier White 
Rabbit did not need many 
clothes, and what they had 
were of deerskin, made soft and 
smooth. They wore tunics and 
leggings trimmed with a fringe 
of the skin, and soft moccasins 
embroidered with colored por- 




THE WIGWAM OR TEPEE 



-23- 



evipine quills and blue and white beads, so the chil- 
dren looked quite tine when they were dressed up. 
Fleet Foot sometimes wore a "war bonnet," 
made all of feathers, from which hung a string 
of feathers, dangling down to his heels. How would 
you like to see your father in a feather bonnet ? 

I must not forget to tell you how fortunate little 
white girls and boys are in having combs. I have 
heard that they sometimes whine when their hair is 
combed; do you know anything about that? The 
hair of these little Indian children was combed with 
a pointed stick or the thorny stem of a shrub i 

The home of Little Bear was not always in the 
same place. He lived before the white men who 
came to America had put his people in a certain 
part of the country and told them to stay there. 




THE riBEPLACE ' 




WHITE RABBIT S CANOE 



The Indians roamed all over the prairies, through 
the forests and beside the lakes, and wherever the 
Indian men went, the family, and all that belonged 
to them, went too. 

It was not much work to take down the wigwam, 
or tepee, as Little Bear's home was called. It was 
made of long poles, set up in a circle on the ground, 
and drawn together at the top so that their ends 
met and crossed. Over the poles was stretched a 
covering. Sometimes this covering was made of deer 
skins sewed together ; sometimes it was of bark. The 
two edges in front were fastened together with 
wooden pins, and an opening was left at the bottom 
for a doorway. A place was left open at the top, 



—24— 



too, for the smoke of the fire to go out if it eould find 
its way. When snow or I'aiu came tlie deersliin door 
was closed. 

Inside, in the middle of the tepee, a fire was built 
on the ground, and all around it, flat on the earth, 
were animal .skins, on which the fur had been left. 
These were the mats and beds on which the family 
sat and slept. There was no furniture, so there was 
not much to move. 

When the tepee was taken down the covering of 
bark or skins was rolled up and put in the bottom of 
a canoe, or was tied to poles and dragged by a pony 
to the next place in which the family was to camp. 

Inside the tepee there was one thing that you 
would have liked to see. It was a skin robe on which 
pictures were painted in black and red. The pictures 
were of the brave deeds of Fleet Foot, the baby's 
fallier. He had fought in many wars against other 
Indians, and had killed fierce animals. There were 
no written words in his language, so he could not 
write about what he had done, l)ut he painted these 
pictures and signs that stood for words. He often 
told the story of his life to White Rabbit. 

That was not the only thing that White Rabbit 
learned. His father taught him how to paddle in his 
bark canoe. He showed him how to find his way in 
the forest by noticing on wliich side of the trees the 
most leaves grew, and on which side was the thickest 



bark. He told him about the ways of the animals and 
birds that White Rabbit tried to shoot with bow and 
arrow, and taught him how to hide his footprints, 
or "trail,'" from his enemies. 

Then the story-teller of the village, when he eanie, 
told of the time when all the animals talked so 
the Indians could understand them. White Rabbit 
listened while he spoke of the Spirit of the East 
Wind, who drove away the darkness, and of the 
North Wind — the cold, bleak wind that came out of 
his icy cavern and blew his freezing breath over the 
earth, killing the flowers. 

He told, too, of the beautiful Star Maiden, who 
left her home in the sky that she might be neai- tlie 
Indians, because she loved them. When she came to 
the earth she chose to live in the heart of a white 
rose on the mountain-top. but that was so far away 
that she couhl not hear the children at their play, so 
she came down and lived for a while in a flower at 
the foot of the mountain, but there the wild animals 
frightened her and made lier tremble. One day a 
soft breeze blew her into the lake, where she rested 
lightly on the top (if the water, unafraid, and 
blossomed into a water-lily! 

Now we will make a picture of Little Bear's home, 
and of the big tree that shaded it in summer, of 
White Rabbit's liark canoe, and of the "fireplace" 
where dinner was cooked. 



—25— 



BABY SIPSU'S HOME 



I AM sure if you could see Greenland you would say 
its name should be Whiteland. This is where Baby 
Sipsu lives, in a real Jaek-Frost house made of 
snow. You see, there is more snow than anything 
else in that cold country, so the people build their 
houses of it. 

We will make a picture of Sipsu's home, where he 
lives with his father and mother, his sister Agoo- 
nack, and his brother Annanak. 

You have heard of "Greenland's icy mountains," 
haven't you? That is one of them in the distance. 
It is an iceberg moving along in the ocean. When 
the sun shines on it you can see beautiful colors — 
blue, green, and silver. The wind, the sun, and the 
water change the icebergs into different shapes, so 
that before they reach a warm place and melt, or 
sink into the ocean, they may look like a great 
animal or a church, or become an arch. 

Between us and the iceberg we can see a little of 
the ocean and a great deal of snow and ice — not 
smooth, plain ice like that on which you skate, but 
lump_y, luunmocky ice, piled up in heaps. 

That rounded place that looks like a great white 
beehive is Sipsu's winter home. This is the way it 
is made : The men take their snow-knives, made of 
walrus bone, and cut the hard snow into blocks 



shaped like dominoes. These they set up on tlieir 
long edge in a circle, one above another, each bend- 
ing inward a little, and each circle growing smaller, 
until one block will cover the hole at the top. Then 
a little door is cut in one side of this ice hut, and 
sometimes a low, narrow tunnel to keep out the 
wind, and a little "storm-door" beehive are added. 

This winter home is called an "igloo." Sipsu's 
summer home is a " tupek, ' ' and is made of sealskin, 
with the bones of a big fish as tent poles. 

The sled belongs to Sipsu's brother Annanak; he 
calls it a "komatik." Trees cannot grow in this 
cold country ; so, unless pieces of a wrecked ship are 
found, everything has to be made from the bones 
and hide of the polar bear, the walrus, and the seal. 
The komatik is made mostly of bone, the pieces 
being tied together with cords made of walrus hide. 

Instead of horses, dogs are used — sometimes in 
teams of seven or more— to pull the komatik. They 
are harnessed by having a collar of walrus hide put 
around the neck of each; from that stretches a long 
line which is fastened to a thong between the 
runners of the komatik. 

That big dog is Tor, the leader of the team. The 
other dogs have made for themselves holes in the 
snow and gone to bed. The snow has drifted over 



-26— 




THE WINTER HOME OF BABY SIPSU 




TOR, THE LEADER OF THE TEAM 

thein like a blanket, so they are warm and com- 
fortable. 

When the dogs are ready to start they will form a 
V, with Tor at the point and the two dogs nearest 
the komatik at each end of the broad space. There 
are no reins with which to guide them, but Annanak 
has a whip with a very long lash, and if a dog is 
unruly, he will snap its ear. He starts the dogs by 



shouting, "Ka, ka! ka, ka!'' They may jump sud- 
denly and throw Annanak off, but he is so roly-poly 
and good-natured that he will not mind. 

The long canoe-shaped boat which you see there 
is a "kayak." It is of bone, covered with sealskin, 
the seams sewed so carefully that no water can get 
through. The top, too, is covered with skin, in the 
center of which is a round opening, just big enough 
for a man to crawl through, and sit on the bottom of 
the kayak. An apron is then brought up and tied 
under his arms, so everything is water-tight. ISipsu's 
.father can turn his kayak upside down and right- 
side up again while he is in it. 

Away oif in the distance, a big, shaggy white 
polar bear is "going a-fi.shing. " He has heard a 
noise like the rumble of thunder and knows that the 
ice is breaking vip, that spring is coming, and that 
the seals and the walrus will crawl out of the water 
to sun themselves. 

There has l)(>en a long dark night here for months, 
then a montli of twilight, and now the sun has 
looked over the edge of the world for the first time 
this year. Baby Sipsu's mother, with Sipsu sitting 
in the big hood which she wears hanging from the 
back of her neck, Agoonack, and Annanak all 
climbed to the top of an ice hill to get the first 
glimpse of his rays, and give him a joyful welcome. 
Each one carried a small bag, and into each bag was 
put a bone on that day. Agoonack 's bag already had 
a bundle of ten, but Ripsu's hadn't even one bone, 
for this was the first time he had ever seen the sun 



—28- 




THE IGLOO 




THE POLAR BEAE 

rise after the long night. After he has seen it ten 
times he will have a bundle tied like Agoonaek's, 
and then begin on another ten. That is the way 
the Eskimos can tell how old they are; they have 
no word for a number above ten. 

Let us go into the igloo and see what they are all 
doing. Pull your fur hood up over your head, so 
the snow won't go down j'our neck, then get on your 
hands and knees and crawl through the tunnel. If 
we meet any one coming out, either he or we shall 
have to go back to where we came from. Push 
aside that curtain of fur over the doorway. You 
will see that it isn't hung from a pole by rings like 
our draperies; it is frozen there. 

My ! we nearly ran our heads into what looks like 
a snow bank ! It is the bed, table, chair, all in one. 



on wliicli tlr family eat, sleep, and sit at work. It is 
covered deep a\ ith skins, on which the fur has been 
left, so it is not so cold as we sliould think it would 
be. Down on the snow floor is a stone lamp, shaped 
like a elam shell and filled with oil. Around the edge 
is a wick of brown moss that Agoonack scraped from 
the rocks last summer and rolled into a rope. 

On the seat is a big raw piece of seal meat, all 
ready for dinner, and a small piece of blubber 
"candy"' for Sipsu to cat and to rub his face witli. 
That is the only washing his face gets now. Once 
when he was very little liis mother washed it just as 
your cat waslies her kitten's face. (Have you ever 
seen her doing it?) 

Over the fire is a slanting stone with a sealskin 
cup under the lower end, and on the stone is a big 
snowball. Why do you think the stone, the snow- 
ball, and the cup are placed in that way? I will 
let you guess. 

"When Sipsu 's mother came indoors she put down 




A KAYAK 



—30— 



her lioad, raised her hands and gave a shake that 
sent Sipsu out of her hood and into her hands and 
now he is rolling around on the furs. His niotlier 
is chewing sealskin to make it soft so she can sew 
it with a fish-tooth needle into "nanookies" for 
Sipsu and Agoonaek. His fath.er is making a knife 
of walrus-bone. 

Annanak is getting ready his arrows for a game 



with other Eskimo boys. The boys will shoot their 
arrows into the air and see how many they will 
have there before the first one falls. Sometimes a 
circle is made in the snow and only the arrows that 
fall upright are counted. Agoonack is — But dear 
me ! you will l)e so tired of reading about the family 
that I must stop, so you may have a chance to read 
about some one else. 



THE HOME OF WILHELMINA AND PIETER 



WiLiiELMlx.v and Pieter are the dearest, oddest- 
looking little couple! Such roly-poly little folks' 
Not that they are plumper than children of other 
countries, but they look so because of the way in 
which they are dressed — just like their mother and 
father. 

Wilhelmina is a very little girl, just beginning to 
walk, but she wears a little white cap with wings 
that turn back from her face. The waist of her 
dress is tiglit and a kerchief is folded over her 
shoulders ; her skirt is very full and she wears — I 
don't dare tell you how manj' petticoats, for fear you 
won't believe me; but her mother wears thirteen! 

Pieter (his name is not spelled like our Peter's, 
but it sounds the same) wears a tight little brown 
coat with big buttons ; full, baggy trousers, with still 



larger buttons on the baiul ; a red kerchief arouiid 
his neck, and a tall round hat. 

Both Wilhehnina and Pieter wear "klompen" on 
their feet, and the name sounds just like the noise 
the klompen make on the cobblestones. They are 
shoes hollowed and shaped from a block of wood, 
the toes pointed and turning up, and when they are 
old they make fine boats. I have been tokl that once 
in a while they are used as cups — by the children, 
of course. On the toes of Wilhelmina 's little klom- 
pen cherries are carved. 

Dear me, I have not yet told you where Wilhel- 
mina and Pieter live ! Their home is in Holland, 
a country far across the great Atlantic Ocean, where 
the land is all lower than the sea, a part of it having 
once been the bottom of lakes. The water of the 



—31— 




THE HOME OF V/ILHELMINA AND PIETEE 



lakes was drained off into hroad, deep canals, along the sides 
of wliieli high banks, called dykes, were built, so that if the 
water should rise high it could not overflow. Against the sea, 
too, strong dykes are built, of huge rocks and timbers, made 
solid with earth. 

The dykes have to be watched all the time for fear the great 
sea waves pounding against them will force tlieir way in, and 
roll over the villages and farms. To show you how much the 
people think of their home-land, I must tell you that all the 
big rocks and slabs of granite that help make the dykes strong 
had to be brought from other countries, for in Holland there 
is hardly a stone to be found big enough for a boy to skip over 
the water. 

If you stood on the top of a dyke you could see canals every- 
where, cutting the land into squares. You would see fields of 
bright green grass, cottages with red roofs, and windmills, 
windmills, windmills twirling their merry arms, away off to 
the edge of the world. Holland would be like a great wet 
sponge if the rain-water were not pumped out. That is the 
work the windmills are doing, pumping the water into the 
canals. 

When the canals are frozen in winter the people of Holland 
can have great sport skating. They just buckle on their steel- 
shod wooden skates, and away they fly! They skate from 
one city to another, to market, and even to school. I wonder 
if the boys and girls go straight in wlu^n they get there ! 

Let us take an airship and fly low over some of the cities 
and notice a few of the things about them that we do not see 
in our own country. You may ask questions and I will answer 
them ; only do not lean over too far and tip the ship. 

"What are those women doing on their knees in the street?" 




A WINDMILL 



—33- 




A DUTCHWOMAN 

"Why, they are so neat, that they are pulling 
weeds and grass from between the cobblestones." 

"Why are there little mirrors outside the win- 
dows of some of the houses ? ' ' 



"Those are 'spies' or 'busy-bodies.' The lady 
inside eau see, by looking into one, wlio is at the 
door or what is going on down the street." 

"Oh, look at the piles of red and yellow cannon 
balls on the sidewalk!" 

"Those are cheese balls. This is cheese market 
day in that city." 

"See, there's a bridge swinging away from that 
canal, and a man above is dropping a iish line, with, 
a klomp tied to it, into the boat that is passing 
through." 

"He is collecting toll for opening the bridge." 

"Do you see that dog harnessed to a big cart 
filled with big bright cans? Why is that old lady 
dressed in a blue cloak lined with red, and a big 
glazed cap, and standing holding a flag? And look 
at that boat on the canal with a whole family in it, 
just as if they lived there, and — " 

"Wait a minute. You will fall out of the airship 
if you get too exerted. That is a 'truly' dog-cart, 
carrying milk to the customers of the woman who 
M-alks beside it. The old lady is signaling at a rail- 
way crossing; and families do live on the canal 
boats, summer and winter." 

"What handsome black-and-white cows! How 
does the farmer keep them in the pasture ? There is 
no fence around it." 

"Don't you see the narrow canal, and the little 
bridge, with a gate at one end of it standing up 
alone? The canal is the farmer's fence." 

"Oh! see the lovely rainbow trailing over the 



—34— 




THE COTTAGE IN WHICH WILHELMINA AND PIETEE LIVE 




THE COW 

fields! It looks as though there might be a pot of 
gold at the other end ! ' ' 

"The rainbow is made of miles and miles of beau- 
tiful hyacinths — purple, lavender, pink, and white 
— each color in a long bed by itself, with paths 
between. There are tulips there, too — pink, white 
and yellow. The yellow tulips are as fragrant as 
the hyacinths." 



"Those houses look as though they were holding 
up their skirts to go in wading." 

"That is to keep their floors from getting wet 
when the tide comes in. They are built on timbers, 
set up firmly on end." 

Now let us turn. How we have to dodge the 
windmills ! Here we are, back at Wilhelmina and 
Pieter's home. 

Their father, who is a fisherman, can see only the 
tops of the two chimnej's of his cottage, when he 
is in a boat on the other side of the dyke. The 
smoke goes through one chimney, but the other is 
a make-believe to coax the storks to build a nest 
there. The people of Holland are very fond of 
storks and believe these birds bring good fortune. 

The door of the cottage is in two parts, so that 
the upper half can be swung open, while the lower 
half is closed to keep the baby from tumbling out. 

We will make a picture of a stork and of the cot- 
tage, then we will go inside and make a call. 

How spick and span everything is ! The klompen 
are always left outside the door, for they would 
make very dirty marks on the floor. That is hard 
on the stockings, even though they are thick and 
home-made, but the girls — and the boys — take them 
off in the evening and darn them. 

I think the "mutter" will excuse us if we ask her 
to let us look at the bed built into a niche in the 
wall. What fat, round pillows there are in those 
embroidered pillow-eases! Just see the cunning 
little bunk for the baby, built against the wall at 



—36- 



the foot of the big bed. Both are shut up like a 
closet in the daytime. 

IIow pretty the blue-and-white dishes are, iu long 
rows behind the rails fastened to the walls, and 
how all the metal dishes shine ! Then there is the 
carved wardrobe. And see the big fireplace, with 
its wooden canopy and cloth ruffle. 

But we must finish our picture. We will put in 
it a few windmills, a big dyke, a narrow canal, and 




A STORK 



a cow. Now Pieter will tell us about some of the 
good times the little folks in Holland have. 

"We have fun just befoi-e Easter," he says. 
"Then the market man comes around leading his 
fat cow, to show us what a good roast we may have 
for our Easter dinner. An orange is stuck on each 
horn of the cow, and a rosette and streamers of 
colored paper are tied to her tail. 

"The butter man comes, too, and brings us a 
sheep made of butter, with currant eyes; and the 
baker brings a cake tied with ribbon. Then the 
mother boils eggs hard, and dyes them pretty colors, 
and on Easter she liides them in the long grass. The 
one who finds the most, gets a chocolate egg. 

"But the day we love best of all," Pieter goes on, 
"is Saint Nicholas's Day." 

"Is that Chri.stmas?" 

"Oh, no," Pieter 's mother says, "Saint Nicholas's 
Day is the sixth of December." 

"It is the day we have our presents," says Pieter. 
"Saint Nicholas comes the evening before, dressed 
in a long red robe, trimmed with white, and a funny 
cap. When he comes in we sing: 

"Saint Nicholas, kind man, 
Comes every year from Spain; 
Brings apples from Orange-Nassau, 
Pears from tlie tree — 
He is a rich, rich nncle. " 

(We cannot make it rhyme as Pieter did.) 
"Saint Nicholas tells of the naughtiest things 
we've done since he was here last," Pieter says, 



—37— 



"and if we've been extra good he praises us for 
that. Then he scatters sugar plums about and we 
scramble for them. When lie goes we sing: 

" 'Saint Nicholas, put some in luy shoe, 
Put some in my boot. 
T'lianli you, 8aint Nicholas.' 



"Then we put our klompen near the fireplace, and 
hay and sugar in the corners of the room for the 
saint's horse. In the morning, we find the presents 
in our klompen." 

Pieter is smiling to himself and has forgotten all 
about us. 



THE HOME OF THE SWISS BABY 



There are people who believe that mountains are 
the heads of large pins which hold the world 
together. If they could see the mountains of 
Switzerland, where Baby Heire (or Heni-y, as we 
should call him if he lived in America) and his sister 
Lisa live, they would think that there the pins 
were stuck very close together in the big eartli- 
eushion. 

Among these Swiss mountains are great rivers of 
solid ice, called glaciers. They are miles long and 
broad, and hundreds of feet deep, and in them are 
wide cracks. The snow from the mountains above 
is added to them every spring, so they never grow 
less, and the great weight helps push them slowly 
down into the valleys, carrying on their sides heaps 
of dirt and stones. From these glaciers rise clear, 
swift rivers of water, that flow far away into other 
countries. 

Lisa, looking up, can see white mountain peaks 



shining above the clouds. On them is a winter of 
snow, that never turns to spring. How surprised 
Pieter, from low, flat little Holland, would be if he 
should come to visit Lisa ! And how surprised she 
would be if she should pay Pieter a visit in the land 
of windmills and canals ! They would both, prol)- 
ably, be homesick for their own kind of country. 

The valley where Baby Heire and Lisa live is 
green in summer ; but in winter, when the snow falls 
in flakes as large as silver dollars, it does not take 
long to cover it with good big drifts. Very often 
the snow about the cottage is so deep that a tunnel 
has to be cut through before any one can get out. 

During the long winter, that lasts from October 
until May, the goats and cows are housed under the 
living-rooms, which the family reach by going up a 
stairway on the outside of the cottage. On a bal- 
cony that runs around the house the mother puts 
the bedclothes to air. I had almost said, "hangs 



—38- 




BABY HEIRE'S MOUNTAIN HOMK 




ONE OF THE GOATS 

the clothes to dry," but there would not be half 
room enough on tlie baleony for tlieni, for Lisa's 
mother does the family washing only three or four 
times a year. She would be asliamed to be seen 
washing every week ; it would seem as though the 
family liad so few clothes to wear. 

0\er all, built far out beyond the walls, is a broad 
roof, almost flat, on whieli heavy stones are placed 
to keep tlie shingles from being snatched off by the 
fierce, strong winds that sometimes l)low. Piled 
under the roof is wood for the winter fires. 

Inside tlie cottage there is not much furniture, 
but there is a big stove that takes up a good deal 
of room. Around its flat top is a curtain, making a 



warm, cozy little place for Lisa to climb up to when 
she is cold, and once in a while she sleeps there ! 
Part of the stove is in the kitchen, and out there 
the fire is built and the baking done, so the little 
room is never uncomfortably hot. 

The cottage in the valley is not the only home of 
Baby Heire and Lisa. On the side of a mountain 
not far away is a hut called a "chalet," in which 




ONE OF THE COWS 



—40— 




THE CHALET ON THE MOU.\TAIX-SIDE 



the family spent the summer. AVheu tlie warm 
winds begin to blow, and the snow to melt, and 
the green, juicy grass springs up, the cattle are 
taken from their stables under the cottage and 
driven to the pastures on the mountain-side to graze. 

The men who take the cattle to the mountain pas- 
tures are called "herders." 

When the time comes for the herders to start, all 
the people in the village, dressed in their best 



clothes, form in procession and go part of the way 
with them and their families, M'ho are to help them 
care for the cows and goats, and make cheese from 
their milk. The cheeses, like great yellow grind- 
stones, will be sent down to the valleys and from 
there to other countries all over the world. 

On the backs of the herders are strapped huge 
kettles, to be used in making the cheese, bundles of 
food, and other things that will be needed. Baby 



—41— 



Heire is tied in a fiat basket, and carried up the 
mountain on his mother's head. 

Each animal in the herd of cattle wears a bell, 
but the largest is put upon the neck of the hand- 
somest cow, and she becomes the leader. The goats 
are driven by little boys called goatherds, who carry 
long, pointed sticks to keep their dancing, prancing 
flock in order. Then, to the "ko-ling, ko-lang," of 
the cowbells, and the tinkle of the tiny bells on the 
goats, up the zig-zag path and through the woods 
they all go. 

After a hard climb, the father and mother, Lisa 
and tlie baby, come to the pasture where their little 
chalet stands. Its roof is broad and weighted with 
stones, like that of the cottage in the valley, and 
on the sunny side its walls are burned a chocolate 
brown ; the side on which the storms beat is a dull 
gray. 

The chalet is very small, only one room and a 
loft, but there is a big, glorious out-of-doors, so Lisa 
does not care. All around are lovely Alpine roses, 
blue gentians, asters, and forget-me-nots, bluer than 
any you have ever seen, unless you have been there. 
Right on the edge of steep rocks, where Lisa dare 
not go for fear of being dizzy and falling, the edel- 
weiss, with velvety, star-shaped flowers, grows. 

Lisa and her mother do not need pictures on the 
walls of their chalet. By just going to the door they 
can see what travelers from all over the world have 
traveled miles and miles to view — "God's great pic- 



tures," hung in the sky and on the mountain-sides. 
Lisa thinks there is no other place so beautiful as 
her mountain home, and she has work enough to do 
to keep her happy. 

In the evening, when the snow-capped mountains 
are all rosy in the sunset, the men and the little 
goatherds call the animals together with long, musi- 
cal cries, and give to each a handful of salt ; then, 
with their one-legged stools strapped to them, so 
that their hands Avill be free, they go from one 
animal to the otlier, milking them. 

After that, the herders go home to their supper of 
bread, with toasted cheese spread upon it instead of 
butter, and boiled milk. On the edge of the pail th.it 
holds the milk hang wooden spoons with handles 
carved into a hook like the horns of the chamois 
that leap over the crags far above the chalet. 

As night comes up the mountain Lisa sings to 
little Heire the same "sleepy-song" that their 
mother sang to her when she was a baby: 

"Sleep, baby, sleep! Thy father teiuls the sheep, 
Thy mother shakes the little tree, 
A tiny dream falls down for thee. 
Sleep, baby, sleep I 

"Sleep, baby, sleep! In heaven walk tlie sliceii. 
The stars they are the lambkins small. 
The moon it is the shepherd tall. 
Sleep, baby, sleep ! ' ' 

We will put in our picture a chalet, some chamois, 
a cow, and a goat. ' 



-43- 



LITTLE GEMILA'S DESERT HOME 



Gemita is a little Arab, and her home is a tent in 
the desert. All around are bare, yellowish ridges 
and low hills. Tliese are sand-drifts which the wind 
has swept up, just as you have seen it whirl tlie 
snow into huge drifts in winter. The family have 
been riding over the desert on their camels, looking 
for new pasturage for their animals. For days and 
days Gemila has seen notliing but hot, parching 
sand, and the only water slie lias liad to drink has 
been that carried in skin bags, on the back of the 
camel. 

But now the family has come to a green spot, 
where there are trees for shade, and grass and water 
for the camels. The trees are date-palms, that grow 
very tall and without a branch, until at the top 
great leaves spread out like a big umbrella. Below 
the leaves are heavy clusters of dates. Do you know 
that the dates you buy grow in that way? Gemila 's 
brother will climb up one of the trees and gathei- 
dates enough for supper and to feed the camels. 

It looks as though it would be a hard climb up 
that tall, straight tree, but the trunk is scaly where 
the old leaves have dropped off as the tree grew, 
and the scales may be used as steps. 

The Arabs could not get along at all without this 
palm, for every bit of the tree can be made into 



something useful. Even the date-pits are strung 
like beads by the little children, and are used as 
counters in tlieir games on the sand. 

The camels liave not had much to eat on tlie jour- 
ney across the desert except the low, thorny shrubs, 
growing up through the sand, tliat tliey stretched 
and twisted their long necks to reach. The only 
water they have had has been that stored in their 
own reservoir, inside them, and now they are as 
glad as Gemila to get the fresh dates and water. 

These animals have only one hump, but there 
is another kind of camel, away up in a colder coun- 
try, that has two. The riding-camels are called 
"dromedaries,"* and are swifter than those that 
carry the tents and other tilings used in making 
camp. The leader wears bells and gay strips of 
color; the other camels follow him single file, in 
a long line. Sometimes the nose of each camel is 
fastened to the saddle of the one ahead of him. 

The camels are resting. If one wanders away 
he will be brought back, and one of his feet will 
be tied to the halter on his head ; then he will have 
to hobble on three legs. 

• The name dromedary — commonly u^ied to distinguish the Ara- 
l>ian earael, having one hump on its hack, from the nactrian, which 
has two — is restricted in .\rabia and Egypt to the better breeds of 
this ••mimal. 



-4.'"-!- 




LITTLE GEMILA'S HOME 



There is a baby camel with the rest — a solemn 
little felloAv, not playful at all. Gemila and her 
brothers would rather play with their pet locusts 
than with him. They hold the insects by short 
strings and have great fun getting up races to see 
which one can run the fastest. 

I must tell you how Gemila 's father and the others 





ONE or THE CAMELS 



GEMILA t) i'ATllEK 

manage to ride on those higli humps. (It seems as 
though we could not get away from the camels, 
doesn't it?) The saddle is made of wood, with an 
upriglit stake, back and front, to wliicli to hold. Be- 
tween the stakes a platform is built and on it are 
piled carpets and cushions. It is broad enough for 
the rider to sit on in any way lie pleases, so if ho 
grows tired sitting in one position he can change to 
another. 

Before any one can mount the camel the animal 
must get down on the ground, with his legs under 
him. The rider climbs on his back and holds on 
tight to the saddle, and the camel gets up on his 
fore-knees, sending the rider backward. Then his 
hind legs stretch out full length and the rider 
pitches forward. The remainder of the fore-legs 



—45— 




THE BIG TEXT I.V WHICH GEMILA LIVES 



then come up and the rider is jounced to where he 
belongs. 

When Gemila was a baby her cradle and baby 
carriage was a sack hung on one side of a camel, 
balanced by something just as heavy as she on the 
opposite side of the saddle. 



Under the trees the black tent is pitched. It 
looks something like the bottom of a boat turned 
upside down. Nine poles, in sets of three, are stood 
up in the ground and over them is stretched cloth 
woven of the black goats' hair. The tent is then 
made secure by ropes and tent-pegs, as our tents are. 



-47— 




THE MILLSTONES 

From the middle row of poles hangs a white carpet, 
making two rooms. The women have the one on the 
right; the men the one on the left. 

In front of the tent sits Gemila's father and 
near by we see two millstones. The lower stone is 
hollowed out a little, and the upper stone, which fits 
into it, has a hole in the middle and a handle on one 
side. In the morning the women spread a cloth on 
the ground, put the millstones on the cloth, and 



grind grain into meal for bread. Two women take 
hold of the handle and turn the upper stone, one of 
them pouring grain into the hole at the same time. 
The meal comes out at the edges and falls upon 
the cloth. Then the women mix it with a little 
water into a stiff dough which they spread on and 
cover with hot ashes. After the bread has baked 
about an hour it is broken and thrown into a big 
dish of soup, or sour milk, and all the family — men 
first — go fishing for it with their fingers. Doesn't 
that make you think of the Goops, who "lick their 
fingers"? 

Would you like to know how Gemila is dressed? 
She wears a long brown coat, full orange-colored 
trousers, and a kerchief of the same color. Green 
beads are around her neck, and rings are in lier 
ears and strung across her forehead, while on one 
arm and on both bare ankles are bracelets. 

Now it is time for Gemila to go to bed on the 
rug spread out for lier in the tent, so she says, 
"Saidi! [sa-e-de],'' which in her language means 
"Good-by, " and we leave her to sleep as soundly as 
you sleep in your little white beds at home. 



-48— 



THE HOME OF THE CHINESE BABY 



Away on the other side of tlie world, nearly oppo- 
site to where we live, is a big country called China. 
About one-fourth of all the people in the world live 
there. 

Across one edge of China are still left parts of a 
long, high, broad wall, that was built seventeen 
hundred years before America was discovered. The 
wall is as high as a three-story house, and so broad 
at the top that two big automobiles — if they could 
run there — might meet and pass, it was over twelve 
hundred miles long, and passed over mountains, 
through valleys and across rivers. Think of the 
longest railroad ride you have ever had, then of 
how many more miles you would have to go if you 
should ride the length of the wall. 

There are many, many babies in China, and one 
of tliem is the brother of Chenchu and Little Fat 
One. The baby is called Number Four, because 
there are three children ahead of him in the family. 
You can guess w-hy Little Fat One was given his 
name. That is only liis "milk-name"; when he goes 
to school his teacher will give him a different one. 
Chenchu 's name means "a pearl." Ask Margaret if 
she knows the meaning of hers ; it is just the same. 

This Chinese baby is a funny-looking little fellow, 
with only one tuft of hair on the back of his head. 



The rest was shaved off the day he was a month old. 
When he is a man and the tuft has grown into a 
long lock, he will wear it braided in a pigtail 
called a "queue." His clothes are cut exactly like 
his grandfather's, so you cannot guess his age by 
them. You could not guess it, anyway, because he 
was called one year old the day he was born. The 
next day w-as New Year's, and then he was called 
two years old. New Year's Day is counted as the 
birthday of every one in the country. What a big 
birthday party all the people have on that day ! 

Number Four's baby -carriage is a square of cloth 
with a string fastened to each corner. He sits in this 
on his nurse's back, and the strings are tied in front 
over her shoulders and under her arms. I wish I 
could tell you that Number Four is a sweet, pleas- 
ant baby. He isn't! All that he has to do is cry, 
and he will be given what he wants, whether it is 
good for him or not. It makes a baby — or any one 
else — very disagreeable to have his own -way all the 
time. 

All around the city in which Chenchu, Little Fat 
One, and Number Four live is a wall with big arched 
gateways and iron gates, that are closed at nigiit. 
Their house is built around a court, with all the 
windows and doors openinginto the court. 



—49- 




L\ THE LAXD OF THE CHIXESE BABY 



A CAMJiL-BACK BlUDGE 



There is uo tire ia the house, but uuder the briek 
bed are pipes warmed from a fire of straw or dried 
leaves outside the room. When Clienchu and Little 
Fat One are cold, they crawl up on the bed, or 
"k'ang," as it is called. 

When they eat they have neither knives nor forks, 
but pick up their food with slender, pointed bone 
sticks called "chop-stieks. " 

AVould you like to take a wheelbarrow ride 
around the city with me ? Well, here is a man wait- 
ing for some one to hire him and his barrow. It 
hasn't sides and back and a wheel in front, like 
our wheelbarrows at home. The wheel is in ihe 
middle, with the framework over it. and on each 
side, running lengthwise, is a narrow seat, with a 
loop of rope hanging from it in which to put the 
feet. You sit on one side and I will sit on the other, 
whih' the man behind trundles us wherever we M'ish 
to go. 



Clienchu and her mother may crawl into tiie two- 
wheeled cart. They will have to sit on its floor and 
there will be nothing to lean against; but a mule 
will pull the cart, and a driver Avill sit on one of 
the shafts. We shall have to go single file, as there 
is not room in the narrow street for the cart and the 
wheelbarrow to go side by side. The father will 
walk, holding Little Fat One by his queue instead 
of his hand. 

Little Fat One is carrying his pet bird in a cage. 
He has no little dog to follow him. He sees some- 
thing that interests him as soon as we start. It is 
a candy-man with a bowl of taffy and a reed. He 
is blowing candy men and animals just as a glass- 
blower makes glass articles. 

There is no one to take our picture as we start, 
but we will make pictures of some of the things we 
see on our way. Oh, dear! how the wheelbarrow 
jounces! 



—51- 




A SLIPPEK-BOAX 

The first object we see that we wish to put in our 
picture is a building called a '"pagoda." It is ever 
so many stories high, and on each upward-turning 
point is a bronze bell that rings when the wind 
blows. We may go up a winding staircase inside if 
we wish ; but, really, the air outside is better. 

We are coining to a beautiful lint odd-looking 
bridge. Some call it a "camel-back." It is arched 
so that the boats called "junks," like that one sail- 
ing toward it. may pass under. On the river arc n 
great many different kinds of boats, and every one 
of them has an eye on each side of the prow. That 
is so they can see where they are going ' We will 
make a picture of the bridge, of the junk, and of a 
"slipper-boat." 

What a noise! It makes us wisli to cover our 
ears, but we have to hold on to the wheelbarrow. 



We are near a 
school and the 
pupils are all 
studying at the 
tops of their 
voices, so the 
teacher will 
know they are 
learning their 
lesson. Let us 
go in. 

T h c teacher 
wears big round 
spectacles that 
make him look 
v e r y av i s e . 
When he says, 
"How - do you- 
do" to. us, in- 
stead of shaking 
our hands he 
shakes Ins own. 
One boy is 
standing with 
his back to tlie 
teacher, r e c i t- 
iug his lesson. 

I wonder if 
you would like 
to go to school 
li e r e . You 




A PAGODA 



-52— 



would have to come before breakfast, and, after you 
had gone liome and eaten that, come ))ae]i and stay 
until it grew too dark to see. You would have to 
come seven days in the week, too, with only a few 
holidays in the year. 

But, after all, the children have time, somehow, 
to play games that are very much like yours. The 
t)oys have kites without tails that will fly higher 
than any you can make, and they have tops that 
they can spin by whipping. 

One game the children play is called "Cat Catch- 
ing ]\Iice."' 

They form in a ring with 1he mouse inside and 
the cat outside. The ring goes round and round, 
saying : 

"What o'clock is it? 

Just struck nine. 
Is the mouse at home? 

He's about to dine." 

All the time the mouse is careful to keep as far 
as possible from the cat. When the ring stops the 
cat runs in on one side and the mouse out on the 
other, and they wind in and out of the ring until the 
mouse is caught, the cat always following in its foot- 
steps. Then the mouse is eaten ! 

Now let us tell the wheelbai-row man to take us 
home. 



• From "Chinese Boy .ind Cirl." by Isaac T.Tylor Headland. 
I'leming H. Reyell Company. 




A CHINESE JUNK 



-53— 



THE HOME OF THE JAPANESE BABY* 



ToYOTAEO is the name of this baby boy, and his 
sister's name is Hana. Their liome is in Japan, a 
litthi country quite near China. 

When Toyotaro was very little his father wrote 
three names on slips of paper and tossed them into 
the air. On the first slip that fell to the floor 
"Toyo" was written, so the baby was called by that 
name. "Taro" was added to it, as that word means 
"first son.'' Hana's name means "Blossom." 

Toyotaro is tied upon Hana's back, so wherever 
she goes Toyotaro goes too. When Hana plays 
"Bounce the bail" the game is just as much 
"Bounce the baby." The ball is thrown hard on 
the ground, then Hana whirls all tlie way around in 
time to strike the ball downward as it bounds up. 
She whirls five times without stopping, slapping the 
ball each time and keeping it ))ounding. Toyotaro 
is very good-natured and seems to enjoy the game, 
not minding the jolts he gets. 

Hana and Toyotaro live in a house that looks very 
wide-awake in the daytime, and very fast asleep at 
night and when there is a storm. The walls, par- 

• The characteristics of the Japanese dweilins-house cannot hi' 
brought out by scissors-wori; in a way that wouid leave a correct 
impression ; while the architecture of the puKOda. beinH; copied from 
*'hina, would only confuse the two countries in the mind of the 
child, so neither is used in the picture. If pictures of Ijeds. tal)les. 
chopsticks, etc., can be obtained from old magazines they will 
heighten the interest. 



tJtions, doors, and windows are all of paper fastened 
on sliding frames of wood, so the whole side of the 
house can be opened to let in the .sun and the air. 
Inside it is divided into small rooms, but can be 
made one large room by just sliding the partitions 
l)ack. On the outer edge of the piazza are grooves 
in which wooden shutters run. At night, or when 
it storms, these shutters can he made into a strong 
protecting wall for the house. 

On the floor are thick, soft mats made of reeds 
woven together. In one wall, which is thicker than 
the others, a recess is cut: in it hangs a beautiful 
scroll with a poem written upon it. Beneath the 
scroll is a little shelf on which is a branch of lovely 
cherry blossoms in a handsome vase. 

But where is the furniture? No wonder Japanese 
babies are such happy little folks! There isn't a 
chair for Toyotaro to tip over in, a bed to fall out 
of, nor a table to bump his head against. 

When he and the rest of the family are hungry 
they get down on their knees and sit back on their 
heels. Then little low tables are brought in and 
one is set before each person. On the tables, instead 
of platters and vegetable-dishes filled with meat 
and potatoes, are beautiful little bowls full of hot 
rice, and pretty dishes on which are pieces of fish. 




IN THE LAND OF THE JAPANESE BABY 




HAXA AND TOYOTARO 



You would think you could not eat rice without 
a fork or a spoon, but Hana picks it up daintily with 
her two slender ivory chop-sticks, held between 
her fingers. Hana has her own chop-sticks box in- 
stead of a napkin ring. When there is company, 
tiny cups of tea, little cakes of different colors, 
and candy in the shape and color of flowers are 
l)rought in. 

When Toyotaro and Hana are sleepy, thick quilts 
are spread for them on the floor, and, with another 
(juilt over them, off they go to the land of dreams. 
Grown-up ladies have a funny pillow made of wood, 
with a soft roll on top, on which they rest their 
heads while they sleep. They sleep in this way so 
that their hair, which is very nicely "done np," will 
not be mussed. 

For a dress Hana wears a bright-colored, wide- 
sleeved kimono, with soft sash tied high under her 
arms and in a big bow behind. She looks like a 
big, gay butterfly. Her shoes are neither buttoned 
nor laced, but are held on her feet by a cord that 
passes between her big toe and the others. In rainy 
weather her shoes are a flat piece of wood, rounded 
a little at toe and heel, and with little "stilts" 
fitted to the under part. On pleasant days when the 
ground is dry she wears light shoes of straw when 
out-of-doors. She always takes off her shoes when 
she goes into the house. Her stockings are of cloth, 
with a place like the thumb of a mitten for her big 
toe. 

You would think Toyotaro a funny-looking little 



—56- 




KlUiXG IN A JIXRIKISHA 



t'fUow, iu liis pink-and-yellow kimono and with his 
liair shaved in a fancy pattern. He is not dressed in 
white, because white is worn only by those who are 
mourning for dead friends. Toyotaro's clothes are 
cut just like liana's, but when he is older he will be 
dressed in dull colors ; he will not be mistaken for a 
girl then. When lie begins to run alone, a little silk 
bag will be fastened to his girdle. In this bag a 
metal tag, with his name and address cut in, will tell 
any one who he is, should he be lost. 

For pets liana and Toyotaro have "singing 
insects" — crickets, grasshoppers, and katydids — in 
little cages of bamboo and net. Tliey have fireflies, 
too, that look in the darkness like tiny stars of green 
fire. The fireflies are in horsehair cages, two inches 
long, with a green leaf in each for the fireflies to 
feed upon. 

Japanese children are tauglit to be very polite, 
and to think more of the feelings of others than of 
their own. 

That Hana may be taught a lesson, she is shown a 
picture of the three monkeys that were carved on a 
temple three hundred years ago. One has his hands 
over his ears, that he may hear no evil ; the second 
has his hands over his mouth, that he may speak no 
evil; the third has his hands over his eyes, that he 
may see no evil. 

One of the games Hana plays with other girls is 
something like "Puss-in-the-corner.'' Puss is sup- 
posed to be an evil spirit, and the four corners — in 
which the children are safe — are called "truth." 



The people of Japan are very fond of flowers and 
blossoms. The girls are taught to arrange them so 
that every bit of the beauty of the flower, stem, and 
leaf may be seen. In January and February the 
plum tree blossoms, and its petals fall with the snow. 
In April the Japanese have the cherry blossoms, in 
May the purple and white iris, the wistaria in June, 
the lotus in July and August, and the chrysanthe- 
mum in November — almost a calendar of flowers. 
When the cherry trees are covered with their lovely 
pink blossoms, large as roses, tlie people picnic 
under them and write poems to hang on the 
branches. 

From Hana and Toyotaro's home can be seen the 
beautiful mountain that all the people love. Its 
name is Fujiyama, but the poets call it "the match- 
less mountain," and "Peak of the White Lotus." 
This is the story the children have been told 
about it : 

One black night, long, long ago, a terrible storm 
arose. The earth was shaken to its foundations and 
the sea seemed to pour from the sky. In the morn- 
ing the sun shone and all was calm and peaceful. 
Then a great wonder met the eyes of the people. 
AVhere their rice fields had been there was now a 
lovely lake, blue as the sky. 

In another place, far away, the earthquake and 
the hurricane had been as terrible as where the 
lake was found. But here, when the sun rose, it 
shone upon a mountain of perfect beauty and shin- 
ing whiteness. At first the people thought they had 



—58— 




A JAPANESE TEMI'I.E 



seen a vision or cloud-picture that would disappear. 
But the mountain remained in its place, clothed 
with forest and crowned with snow, and it was 
believed that the laud, scooped by some giant hand 
from where the blue lake lay. had been built up 
into this glorious mountain.* 

Now, I must tell you about the festivals that the 
children of Japan enjoy. First comes the Feast of 
the New Year, when all the family join in the fun. 
E^'ery one wears new clothes, and all the. houses are 
decorated with pine and bamboo branches, straw 
ropes, and splendid red lobsters. These have a 
special meaning to the people — such as happiness 
and long life. The girls play battledore and shuttle- 
cock, and the boys tly kites. Then calls are made 
upon all the relatives. liana and her mother go in a 
jinrikisha, like the one in our picture. You can see 
that it is a small two-wheeled carriage drawn by a 
man. 

Then the girls and boys each have a festival of 
their own. The girls' great holiday is the "Doll 
Festival." That comes the third day of March. On 
her first Doll Festival day every little girl is given a 
pair of dolls dressed to represent the Emperor and 
the Empress of Japan. There are others to look like 
the musicians and members of the court. 

These dolls are brought from the fireproof store- 
house, in which the family treasures are kept, only 
on that day, and are arranged on red-covered 



* .Adapted from "Letters from Japan," by Mrs. H. Fraser. Tlie 
Maemillan Company. 



shelves. Hana is taught loyalty by showing homage 
and respect to them. She has a set of perfect little 
doll dishes and serves tea and food, in exactly the 
right way, to her dolls. Some of the dolls belonged 
to Hana's mother and graudmother M-hen they were 
little. At the end of the day they are all put away 
until the next year at the same time, but Hana has 
her everyday dolls to play with. 

The boys' OM'n day is the fifth of ilay, and is 
called the "Feast of Flags." For days before this 
festival the shops are gay with flags and banners 
and are filled with toy weapons and images of the 
heroes and warriors of Japan. These are bought as 
presents for the boys. The house is decorated with 
the iris, because of its sword-shaped leaves. In the 
yard a tall bamboo pole is set up, and tied to it are 
huge paper fish, one for every boy in the family. 
The fish are painted blue, red, or gray, and have 
silver scales and wide-open mouth and glaring eyes. 
They are hollow, and as the breeze catches them 
they swell up and rise in the air, and the fins and 
tails flap as though they were swimming. 

The fish are always shaped like a carp — a strong 
fish, able to swim swiftly and leap upward. This is 
pointed out to the boy, that from it he may learn 
perseverance. And stories of the brave lives and 
wonderful deeds of the heroes and warriors are told 
him, also, that he may learn to be brave and loyal. 

We will make a pictiire of Toyotaro on Hana's 
back, of his mother in a jinrikiisha drawn by a man, 
and one of the temples. 



—60— 



•JUN 20 19^0 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



-'Uli 20 ititi 



